Can Irish fight malaise? Losses cloud ND's potential

January 28, 2009|TOM NOIE Tribune Staff Writer

Players-only meetings, a pre-dawn practice less than nine hours after a game, promises from the head coach that at least one good run remains and the possibility of missing the NCAA tournament is life today for the Notre Dame men's basketball team. Such is the way of the college basketball world in the Big East, where challenges come in suffocating succession. One near-miss can lead to two, three or four losses. A once-firm grip on the game becomes something nobody seems to know how to cure. While the Irish work to get their collective act in gear, here are answers to six questions hovering over a program that has labored 18 days without a win. -What can pull the program from this malaise? Simple -- shots and seniors. This is a team of shot-makers. That's who they are. Success is dictated on making shots. That's why they are where they are. We hear all the time how Kyle McAlarney takes and makes hundreds of jumpers each day, or how every time Ryan Ayers and Luke Zeller shoot it in practice, everyone thinks it's going in. Come game time, it hasn't. They have to be better. McAlarney has to find other ways to get going if he's constantly smothered on the perimeter. Zach Hillesland also has to be a difference-maker instead of a disappearing act. The seniors haven't played like seniors, and the scorers haven't scored. If that doesn't change, neither will the end result. Coach Mike Brey has put so much faith and trust in his seniors, it's time their play reflects that freedom. -Who is missed more, former assistant Gene Cross or former power forward Rob Kurz? It's 50-50, and it has been all year. Cross often downplayed the spark he provided during his two seasons, but he was the one counseling, cajoling and keeping guys out of their collective comfort zones. Players really responded. Nobody on the current coaching staff does that to a similar degree. Maybe it's a different story behind closed doors. During games, coaches offer no more than a quick word or two before the players grab a seat in relative silence. There is one known general, but no obvious drill sergeant. Kurz kept opposing defenses on edge by consistently running to the rim. That opened scoring avenues for others. Defensively, he was the glue that pushed guys out of the paint, a place opposing teams now roam without worry. Only now do we see his true value. -How much of this losing streak lands on the coaching staff? Irish coaches could have been fooled into thinking they had more than they really did in a core that may have already maxed out, and their recruiting shortcomings have left void any other options. Another quality big man to defend the interior sure would help. Zeller never was that guy, and should not have been put in that position. A perimeter player who could create his own shot off the dribble and force the same matchup problems that constantly plague the Irish would be huge. Trouble is, there might be both of those there in sophomore Carleton Scott, but we haven't seen it. Scott may reach a point of being so disenchanted with his role (two total minutes in league play) that he decides he's had enough. Who could blame him? -Is Luke Harangody almost too good? Yes. As the junior power forward continues to roll up double-doubles for points and rebounds, memories of Chris Thomas are rekindled, but in a different way. Thomas did far too much dribbling and shooting, and teammates often got caught watching him work. The results were little offensive flow, poor field-goal percentages and a constant struggle to score. That's how Notre Dame looked in losses to Syracuse, Connecticut and Marquette as it suffered through its worst shooting percentages this season (35.5, 32.9 and 36.4). There have been stretches when the Irish simply stop moving and cutting and looking for different guys to get to the basket. Instead, they dump into Harangody and wait for him to bail them out. He continues to produce monster numbers, but at what cost? A once-high octane offense runs on empty and labors to get into the 60s. -Are Notre Dame's numbers for Ratings Percentage Index (75) and strength of schedule (79) cause for concern? Not yet, but it's getting close. Notre Dame has six games remaining against teams in the top 27 of the RPI, so both of those numbers will receive a boost. It's the non-conference SOS (306) that is troubling. That's why it was vital for Notre Dame to win at home and avoid even one bad loss. The Irish remain in position to play their way into an NCAA tournament bid, but are running out of time to build a suitable resume. The selection committee will look hard at the recent slippage against ranked teams, the setbacks to St. John's and Ohio State, the butter-soft non-league schedule and wonder what the Irish really have done to deserve serious at-large consideration. -How is history working against Notre Dame? No Notre Dame team has lost as many as eight games before February and still squeezed into the NCAA field of 65. The Irish currently sit at 12-7 overall, 3-5 in the Big East with one more league game, perhaps their most difficult yet, to come this month. -Speaking of which, does Notre Dame have a chance Saturday at Pittsburgh? On paper, it's a lopsided loss to the nation's No. 3 team. But in this league, it's never wise to start checking off wins and losses. St. John's then bites Notre Dame. Winless Seton Hall handles Georgetown. Louisville goes into the Carrier Dome and toys with Syracuse. Just when someone thinks they have this league figured out, the madness resurfaces. Notre Dame never has won in four visits to the Petersen Events Center. The true test of the Irish will be what happens the rest of the way. Do they accept that and fight? Or fold? If they continue to play with such uncertainty, this team will be remembered for what might have been, and how it all somehow fell apart.